Story+1985-09-14+Dallas,+TX

´´On our....first trip down here in Texas....on the first part of our American tour....we were down in Houston and....and we seen a lot of folks that come down there from....out of Ohio, Youngstown....out of Pittsburg, Monongahela Valley....all out of the Northeast....going on down to Houston looking for work in the oil fields and the oil refineries....and then the price of oil dropped....they´d end up without jobs, no place to go....see ´em sleeping in tents out on the highway at night....or sleeping in their cars....this is a song, this is called ´Seeds´....”
 * 14.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Seeds´**

´´How you doing out there tonight ?....this is, uh....I always remember when I was growing up....me and my father always being at odds....and I guess that´s a....that´s an old story...but uh....I can always remember it seemed like the things that meant some-thing to me....seemed to always mean nothing to him.....and sometimes we´d sit in the kitchen at night....and he´d always ask me the same question....he always wondered what I thought I was doing with myself....and uh....the worst part about it was I was never able to.....to explain it to him .... and I can always remember that I wished....I remember sleeping with the radio under my pillow....it was like that old song used to say, it was like trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll....I guess that as I got older, I kind of figured that....that not only was it hard for him to understand the things that meant something to me but when I was young, I didn´t understand very well the things that meant something to him....you know, and, uh....seems like it´s always a two-way street....I think back now and I remember when he was....I guess when I was about 15, he was probably....he was younger than I am right now...he was trying to raise a family ....trying to find work all the time....and he dropped out of high school, it was hard for him to do....hard for him to get the kind of jobs that he wanted ....and I didn´t under-stand what being unemployed, how it affects....how it affects the whole family....and uh....as I got older, I guess he got a little closer to me, I got a little closer...to what his life was like....but uh....we just came down out of Pittsburg .... and ...and the Monongahela Valley, they´ve been closing all the steel mills down up there, they went from like 20,000 jobs down to....3,000.....within five years .....and what are you supposed to do when the jobs go away but the people don´t ?.... seems like work is one of the most important things that everybody has in their lives.... and without it ... you end up living in the shadow....in the shadow of a dream and that´s what this song is about....”
 * 14.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ‘The River’**

´´This is uh....this is a song about the many faces of love....is there anybody in love out there tonight ? (cheers)....good....you´re gonna know how to work out (?)....”
 * 14.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´I´m Goin´Down´**

´´This is a song about....it´s about getting old....anybody getting old out there ? (cheers).... you gotta go with it (chuckles)....yeah, like, I´m 35 now....it don´t bother me, it don´t bother me....well, now, the Big Man, he´s 44....great God Almighty....he´s a miracle of science, somehow he always maintains his youthful beauty....don´t know how he does it ....but this is a song about how there´s always somebody....comes up to you in a bar on Friday night, goes like ´You remember me ?...remember, like....yeah, I went to high school with you...yeah.... remember the guy, the guy that dumped the pizza pie on your shirt in study hall ? Yeah, that´s me ! How you doing, how you doing ?´...you know how they tell you what a great time you had in high school and stuff...but man, I remember like I hated high school....I mean I couldn´t stand no high school....I mean when this time of year comes around, I´m still glad that I don´t have to go back....it´s like, like in high school I was only interested in two things ... one was the guitar and the other one was....yeah, that one, that one....now, the guitar, that´s the one I became proficient at....the other one, uh....see, that´s why the shows are so long ´cause the other thing happens so fast.....but I´m married, I´m getting a lot of practise, a lot of practise....so this year I´m gonna get it just right, just right....my New Year´s resolution ....but anyway....this is ´cause in the end, it ain´t nothing but glory days....”
 * 14.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´Yeah, thanks....oh yeah....it´s funny, you know, every....I was telling the folks last night that every place we go....whenever you mention the name of that place....people always like scream and stuff....we´ll give it a shot, alright ?....Dallas (cheers)...Texas (cheers)...yeah, it works every time no matter where you go (chuckles)....and uh, I got thinking about it and I guess I figured people shout it out, when you mention the name of their town, because they´re proud of where they come from....and uh....I remember when I was a kid, I was always kind of had a love-hate-relationship with....where I came from....when I think back on it, I realise that one of the things I was afraid of was I was afraid of admitting that I belonged to some place...because if you admit that you belong somewhere that means you got some responsobility to that place....if you say you´re a Texan....that means you got some responsobility to Texas....if you´re an American.....and tonight in the audience we´ve got some folks who are out ther trying to live up to their responsobility towards their community ....there´s some folks from the North Texas Foodbank....from the Foodbank in Corpus Christi, Foodbank from Fort Worth, Houston and Galveston Area....San Antonio....from Austin... and what a foodbank is is every year 20 percent of all the food that gets produced in the United States ends up getting wasted or thrown away....meanwhile in every city and in every town, there´s people that go to bed hungry at night, there´s old folks who gotta decide between buying medicine or buying the right kinds of food for themselves because their social security checks don´t get ´em through the month, there´s folks that been hit hard by unemployment, there´s kids who, uh, day care centers who ain´t getting the right nutritious kind of food....there´s a lot of people that....that could use a little help....and I guess my.... my idea of America was always being a real big-hearted country....and uh....and with the government cutbacks in social spending....they need all the support they can get....foodbank here in Dallas is right now trying to get up enough money to buy a refridgerated truck, they need some volunteers....I guess mainly what I´m trying to say is that these are the people that are out there every day trying to make some of these ideas that I´m singing about here tonight a reality in your and your fellow citizens´ lives....and uh, without them what I´m doing here is just, uh....doesn´t amount to much more than words....so, uh, tonight when you go out into the lobby, you´re gonna see a phone number....for the foodbanks in your area, if you can write that down and give ´em a call, find out what they´re about, help ´em out if you can in any way, I know they´d appreciate it and I´d appreciate it and they´re here in Texas trying to make it a fairer and more decent place for all, all the Texans....so if you believe rock´n´roll can change people´s lives for the better, get out there and rock it, alright ?...”
 * 14.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´My Hometown´**

´´I always remember when I was growing up....my folks always working so hard....my bedroom was out over the backyard....and in the morning....I could hear....my dad getting up ....and popping the hood on one of the old cars he bought....laying on the cold ground trying to get it going....to get to work....I always remember my mom going down to the finance man ....and borrow money for Christmas....getting it paid back just in time to borrow money for Easter...getting that paid back just in time to borrow money for our school clothes....she never let on like, like it bothered her...but sometimes I think it bothered dad.....he´d sit around at night....instead of looking at what we had....he was thinking about everything that we didn´t have until he´d get angry....at us....and he´d get me thinking like that too....I´d lay up in bed at night....feeling like....if something didn´t happen....like I was just gonna....like I was just gonna...if something didn´t happen....feeling like I was just gonna....like I was just gonna....like I was....”
 * 14.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´I´m on Fire´**

´´(?) once upon a time....in a land long long way from here.... (.....) Now, there we were.....it was the end of the summer....it was a night just like tonight ....except it was a lot hotter...and it was raining....me and Clarence sat downtown....he was working at the bowling alley...I was working in the Laundromat....but we didn´t know what to do with ourselves....we were still in high school, I was still in high school (chuckles)... and we didn´t have like any faith in anything, we didn´t have any hope, we didn´t have any, uh.... any future, we didn´t have any, uh, close interpersonal relationships with members of the opposite sex !....so we sat there....and Clarence said that....he thought that he knew this gypsy lady that could help us with our problems....so off to the gypsy went.....she motioned us in....we paid our 2.50 each....and she looked into the crystal ball....she said....´You boys are in a lot of trouble´....we paid another 2.50....and she said things were getting clearer...she said we were gonna go on a real long trip....we were gonna seek new worlds....go boldly where man has never gone before....and have a lot of fun doing it too....and she gave Clarence a map....to the secret of the world (chuckles)....and said that if we followed this at midnight, we´d find the answer to all our problems....so that night we loaded up the car, Clarence´s old Oldsmobile with lots of peanutbutter-and-jelly sandwiches....and we headed south on Route 9....we started driving down deep into the Jersey pines....and it started raining...and a hailstorm hit....then a tornado came whipping across the highway and then we got jumped on by a hundred of these little Texas grasshoppers....and then a hurricane struck and then a blizzard hit and then the roof flew off the car and then we got four flat tires, then the engine block cracked, then the carburetor went, then the fender flew off and then and then....the radio broke, oh !!!.... but there we were.....on this dark country road and according to the map what we were searching for was just on the other side of those woods.....so into the forest we went....it was spooky in there....there were noises coming from every place..... sounded like werewolves (crowd howls)....sounded like homicidal cows (crowd moos).... sounded like mad dogs (crowd barks)....sounded like the crazy little armadillo things (cheers) ....and on we went....now, Big Man, there ain´t no, like, savage beasts in New Jersey or nothing.... I never heard of like, uh.....you know, killer rabbits....I think we´re safe out here (?)....there´s no, like, killer nothing, you know, I think we´re safe, we´re safe....huh ? huh ? huh ?....whooa! and all of a sudden, there was these two man-eating bears but instead of jumping on us and making us their dinner, they were acting kind of friendly....and they said that they wasn´t mean but that they was just lonely for being out here in the woods all by themselves for such a long time....they said that they´d run away from the circus ´cause they got tired of being in them cages....and that if we´d be their buddies, they´d help us find what we were looking for....so we made a deal and back into the forest we went.....and all of a sudden, there in a clearing we saw the answer to our quest....and as we stood there in the moonlight, we knew that everything was gonna be all right.....because ....because....when we touched...”
 * 14.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Growin´Up´**

´´Thank you, thanks....oh, I´d like to just take a minute and thank everybody for coming down to these two shows that we´ve done here in Dallas....and uh, I´d like to thank those here that I know traveled a long distance, all my old fans from Houston, I´d like to thank out there....from Austin....and uh....I´d like to remind you once again....if you get a chance to give those foodbanks a ring ´cause they can use your support....and I´d like to, uh....do, this is my favorite Elvis song.....back in 1975 we were on the ´Born to Run´-tour and uh....I was a young lad at the time (chuckles)...we were down in Memphis and it was about 3.30 in the morning and a taxi cab took me and my guitar player Steve out to Elvis´ house....and uh, I remember standing there in front of the gates with the big guitar players on ´em....and I looked at Steve, I saw a light in a second story window....and Ifigured Elvis must be up reading, you know (chuckles) and I looked at Steve and I said ´Steve, man, I gotta go, I gotta find out´ and I jumped up over the wall and I jumped down on the other side and I started running up the driveway towards the frontdoor....which, uh, looking back on it sometimes I think was a stupid thing to do (chuckles) ´cause I hate it when people do it at my house now (chuckles)....but uh, anyway, I was filled with the enthusiasm of youth (chuckles) and uh.... just as I got to the frontdoor, the guards came out of the woods and they asked me what I wanted and I said ´Is Elvis home ?´...they said ´No, he´s, he´s in Lake Tahoe´ and I tried to tell ´em that I was a guitar player too and that I had my own band and we played in town that night and, uh, I told ´em that I had my picture on the cover of Time and Newsweek (chuckles)....but uh (chuckles) pulled out all the stops, you know (chuckles)....but uh, in the end he took me by the arm, put me back out on to the street, I don´t think he believed me.... but uh, sometimes I wonder what I would´ve said....you know, if Elvis had come to the door and if he didn´t, like, you know, beat me over the head with a stick for coming so late (chuckles)...but uh, I don´t know ´cause, I guess that was like...I´m not sure it was Elvis I was going to see that night....instead of some dream that I had of him, you know....but uh, it wasn´t long after that that a friend of mine called me up and told me that he´d died and it was hard for me to understand how somebody whose music had come in and taken away so many people´s loneliness and had given so many people a reason for living and a sense of the possibilities of life....could´ve died...so lonely...but in the end, I guess, when you´re alone, you´re alone...anyway, I´d like to do this for you reminding you that it´s easy to let the best of yourself slip away....and wish you all the longest life with the best of absolutely everything....”
 * 14.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Can´t Help Falling in Love with You´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//